KUALA LUMPUR, July 22 — Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor claimed today the corruption charges levelled against him would have been dropped in the "blink of an eye” if he had stayed on with Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad when the latter was still prime minister during the Pakatan Harapan administration.

In a lengthy Facebook post, Tengku Adnan said he felt vindicated after the Court of Appeal overturned his conviction and acquitted him on July 16 but pointed out that many, especially Dr Mahathir, were unsatisfied with the court’s verdict.

Earlier, he had illustrated how former Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng’s corruption trial was discontinued in 2018 with the latter being acquitted before being appointed as finance minister.

"It is said that I was acquitted from my conviction because I was conspiring with Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

"The question of why I was dragged to court is no secret. I was one of the selective few chosen to be prosecuted when I refused to obey Tun’s order.

"The invitation turned into goading and then orders for me to leave Umno and join the ‘traitors’ of the nation. 

"The threats, should I refuse to submit, became a reality when I was indicted in court on fabricated grounds,” the statement reads.

The Putrajaya MP, also known as Ku Nan, said despite the accusations leveled against him by Dr Mahathir just because he refused to be the latter’s "errand boy”, Tengku Adnan said he remained steadfast to Umno’s struggle and determined to press forward.

Following the acquittal, Tengku Adnan even admitted that he was considering legal action against Dr Mahathir, former attorney general Tan Sri Tommy Thomas, senior lawyer Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram, an unnamed NGO and two other DAP federal lawmakers for tarnishing his name and business efforts but decided otherwise.

He then ended his post by stating that the once-strong Barisan Nasional administration collapsed due to circumstances exacerbated by slandering and poor governance.

"Today, as we war against an unseen enemy which claims hundreds of lives, let us all look back at how it was when we failed to plan, failed to govern, failed to control and most importantly failed to elect a government leading to the collapse of a strong BN government because of slander,” he said.